As a law abiding EU citizen I now expect to lose some aspects of privacy and freedom. That is the trend. I dont like it but I expect it and it is a direct result of liberities being abused by a minority. The days I could casually think of wandering around remote locations on the planet have gone. I also expect police control of events pretty much everywhere to get more physical

Thank you for the thoughtful clarification Steve. We can certainly agree that there is a difference between a peaceful assembly and a mob, and that the difference may be in the eyes of the beholder -- that some judgment is required.

My concern, and Mr. Stone's as well I think, is that the authorities not forbid peaceful assembly (virtual or real) because it _might_ turn into a (possibly violent) confrontation. This is sort of an "innocent until proven guilty" view, and yes, it involves taking some risks in the interest of maintaining an open society.

I think the OSF is advocating for an open society and the right of us all to just show up -- even though that will end badly sometimes. "Freedom to" must be constantly balanced against "freedom from." Read more

The point I was trying to make is that OSF, Open Soc Foundation is an activist group but so are many others. They all want to have unfettered access to the municipal space to protest and some seek conflict. In a democracy they all claim the same right

The authorities also want control of that space and it is their responsibility to ensure it is safe, particularly when so many groups also want control of it.

As has been seen in Cologne Far Right protests have errupted. In civil terms apart from the physical intimidation the Far Right have just as much right to demonstate as OSF.

Mr Chris Stone writes as if he is the voice of reason, and he may well be in many peoples opinion. That is not the point - the Far Right also think they are the voice of reason as do the militant Far Left.

The new phenomena is via social media rapidly organised and concerted mass occupation, which is what was seen at Cologne with an estimated 1000 mainy migrant peopel turning up at the railway railways station. Althought the intent seems to have been robbery and sexual assualt they are not that far removed from militant demonstators

' you dont need to be an activist to turn up' No indeed but individuals are not the problem it is organised groups

I am sure OSF would want to suggest it as a group is not a source of civil disorder but the reality is it is part of the process - as I understand it OSF supports open borders and free migration. As has been seen this is a destablising policy and the impact has not finished yet. In terms of a problem open national borders are guaranteed to be a bigger problem that a few hundred thug nasty Far Right demonstrators. The outcome will not help genuine refugees and we are already seeing that

So Mr Stone has responsibiity and the situation is by no means as clearcut as he make out, and he is an activist

BTW Just as damaging is authorities and institutions corrupting news and asking any group to be treated differently for PC reasons

As far as Mr Soros goes his likely endowment to OSF is probably to be the biggest grant in history, bigger than Bill gates, and as such you should not assume OSF is not both powerful and an activist, and as I have tried to point out, the activist believes they are in the right whether they are or not

Are you AGAINST the unrestricted flow of ideas across borders? Do you believe that the majority view is that the flow of ideas across borders SHOULD be restricted? That freedom of expression in general ought to be restricted?

Why is "group" the key word as you say, rather than "individual responsibility?" Ought Mr. Soros be condemned for advocating freedom of expression, or do you have a different problem with him?

Yes indeed, a Nazis group can show up. Group is the key word. One man's freedom or independence fighter is another man's terrorist, until they get in control of course. The point is all activists consider they are right whatever their point of view and they all want command of the public space, as does the authority. Public space is not neutral space. The author is president of Open Soc Foundations which is funded by Mr Soros. Mr Soros supports unrestricted flow over national borders. This is a minority view Mr Soros wants to be adopted by society. Read more

The basic proposition is that activists should determine liberty of protest in support of democracy. Activists being a minority with the self belief they are right. Its an interesting proposition in so many ways Read more

It is about time somebody said something about this. Even in the US this is going on - although they are much more sneaky about it. Watch this TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/will_potter_the_secret_us_prisons_you_ve_never_heard_of_before?language=en Read more

I agree that the Public Sphere now have new enemies, but the Public Sphere also has new domains - especially the platform provided by the Internet are virtual Public Sphere where regulating / restricting assembly or expression to register dissent is next to impossible. States, even most democratic ones, are coming up with surveillance and even crackdown on the exercise of civil liberties on the Internet, I believe that such attempts will never be adequate to reach the ill goal.

The solution that the author has provided may help but certainly not adequate. We not only need non-profits like OSF to be given the same rights as for-profit entrepreneurs but also the all non-profits should remain transparent and pro-public where it's operating; and ensure that their policy initiatives or public policy advocacy are rooted within the society and not 'flown in'. Read more

Generally, I would agree with the ...formulation of the problem put forward in this article. But the, admittedly incomplete, "solutions" proposed are *completely* in the wrong direction.

What is "stronger international governance of the movement of people and money"??? Does the author, by any means, imply a distributed, democratic "governance", or is he suggesting --as he almost surely does-- suggest some form of centralized manipulation of peoples movements? And how is that to be implemented in practice?

Furthermore, foreign direct investment is known in economics to be a form of potential destabilization for an economy, because it can be --and usually is-- subject to abrupt reversals. It can well become a form of peoples' movements and public opinion manipulation, by foreign financiers.

So, what is the real purpose of this article? Is it to really support more open societies, or is it, as it definitely seems to be, to exploit political participation and citizenship and make it vulnerable to manipulation and disenchantment??? Read more

Why do people like to avoid the epicentre of the problem and focus on the peripheries? Russia is a relatively new democracy, to suggest that there may be greater democracy in the West than there is in Russia or any other country for this matter, is totally wrong. The recent laws that were passed by Germany, the UK, France, the US and other so-called leading democracies, not forgetting China of course, make today’s Russia look like the only democratic country on this planet. The sad fact is the citizen has become a customer by its elected representatives and government, a citizen with no rights whatsoever, a citizen that has become a pure conduit for generating fictitious wealth to the financial system and to the political / financial elites that controls it. So in brief, NGO’s and the like are better focus their attention on finding ways for the citizens of the west to gain back, at the very least, their basic rights and “true democracy”. Read more

PS On Air: The Super Germ Threat

NOV 2, 2016

In the latest edition of PS On
Air
, Jim O’Neill discusses how to beat antimicrobial resistance, which
threatens millions of lives, with Gavekal Dragonomics’ Anatole Kaletsky
and Leonardo Maisano of
Il Sole 24 Ore.

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